Finding & Selling Hay...
by Michael P. Libbie, Host - Hwy.6 Your Road to the Country & Insight Advertising
Highway 6 - Your Road to the Country is heard each Sunday morning in the Des Moines market on 98.3 WOW-FM and brought to you by Foton-Mayer Farm Implement & Country Vet Pet Foods. It's NOT a farm show...but a rural lifestyle show packed with ideas and tips for the acreage owner.
If you are one of the thousands of folks living on a small farm or acreage and have your complement of cattle and/or horses you know how high on the hierarchy of needs hay becomes. We worry if we have enough, we worry if we have too much, we worry about the quality...face it: We worry.
Also, some of us find we can make some extra bucks making hay and markets open all the time. This short BLOG is intended to do two things: 1) Give you some info on where to buy hay and 2) an idea about making money with the hay you already have.
Finding Hay
Once you find a good source of quality hay you'll do almost anything to keep the supply coming. I know...we feed horses at our place in Southern Illinois but they alfalfa there is SO BAD we were forced to import from Iowa. So...once a month I'd load a trailer with 75 small squares and head 700 miles south. My guy...Johnny Hopkins out of Dayton, Iowa kept me stocked and it's great hay!
But, let's say you are new to this and need to find an outlet. Sure you can check the paper for hay auctions and take your chances...but you might also try the Hay Registry on the Iowa Department of Agriculture Site. They have a Hay and Straw Directory you might find useful. Best bet is to find somebody and stick with them. Both parties appreciate loyalty.
Marketing Hay
If you are in, or thinking about, the hay selling business. A couple of tips: 1) Once again, get listed on the Hay and Straw Directory and keep it current. 2) Market your product at the feed stores or tack shops and 3) Consider a wild new market...extra small hay bales.
Several years ago I was at the Dairy Expo in Madison, WI. and I ran into Harry O'Connor and the "Itty Bitty Bale Company" out of Riverton, WY. This guy was creating small square bales weighing less than 40 pounds and then shrink wrapping them in plastic and selling them WHOLESALE for $9 - $12 a bale in and around cities. Seems the folks who were buying them at their local upscale feed store for $14 - $17 a bale did not want to get the inside of their SUV dirty. I am NOT making this up.
There are traditional small square balers available from most implement dealers and then there are these special balers that make under 40lb bales. One company that I am aware of is Star out of Japan. Here in the States the balers are available through AGRIQUIP.
It's an idea...your turn to make it something...
Be safe out there...and let's connect this Sunday on 98.3 - WOW-FM - Des Moines.
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